Page 14 of Forever Your Touch

Mason did not look like the same vibrant person she’d seen on Saturday. His hair was messy, his eyes bloodshot, and he was still wearing his pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. Definitely not a morning person.

“Thanks for picking me up.”

He nodded, still not saying anything.

“So, you go to this place a lot?”

“You’re one of those people, aren’t you?”

Boy, he was grumpy. “Those people?”

“Those bright and chipper morning people who have sunshine and rainbows shooting out of their ass before they even get a cup of coffee.”

She laughed at the surly note in his voice. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

He shot her an even grumpier look.

“You’re the one who volunteered to come get me,” Jo reminded him. “I can easily catch a bus to school…”

“No.” He put a hand up, cutting her off. “Absolutely not. Keith would beat my ass black and blue.”

“Then don’t complain about my morning personality.”

He huffed. “Did you get the text I sent you last night?”

“That was you?” An unknown name came up, and she ignored it.

“Yeah. Keith gave me your number, so I shot off a text. You need to be able to reach me.”

Jo pulled out her phone and opened the unknown text then added Mason’s name into her contacts. While she and Mason might not know each other well, it was nice to have at least one friend in New York.

The rest of the drive to Mae’s was spent in silence. She decided to leave Mason in peace. He had gotten up before dawn to pick her up.

Mason let out a relieved sigh when he pulled into Mae’s parking lot. He needed coffee in a bad, bad way. He led the way in and took the first empty booth he came to. It was just starting to get busy in here.

Another waitress who knew him by name came over. Heather worked here part time to help supplement her scholarship funds. He had two classes with her last semester.

“Morning, Mason.” Her gaze bounced to Jo, curious, as she handed them menus. He never came in here with a girl. “What can I get y’all?”

“Coffee,” he muttered. “Four cups of coffee. Three for me, one for Jo.”

“Three?” Jo asked, her eyebrows waging a war with her hairline.

“Don’t judge, Josephine. Not all of us are born with the ability to be so perky at this godawful hour.”

“What’s good here?” Jo picked up her menu and started looking it over. Mason watched her study the specials, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.

“Everything.” He tapped his foot impatiently, needing Heather to hurry up and bring his coffee. He’d barely dragged himself out of bed in time to pick Jo up. His eyes felt like sandpaper, and all he wanted to do was lay his head down and sleep.

“Here you go.” Heather set four cups of coffee on the table. Mason wasted no time in picking one up and taking several long drinks. It burned his tongue, but he didn’t care. Heneededthe caffeine.

“Do you know what you want to order?” Heather and Jo were both staring at him in amazement. He ignored them and drank down half the cup.

“Pancakes.” Jo dumped some sugar in her coffee and added cream.

“My usual.” Finally, the jittery feeling in his stomach started to settle. He decided then and there to invest in a Keurig so he could survive waking up this early.

“Feeling better?” Jo asked, staring at him over the rim of her coffee cup.

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